Front leader urges measures to improve tax and customs procedures

President of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front (VFF) Nguyen Thien Nhan has called on the Ministry of Finance to adopt drastic measures to accelerate tax and customs procedure reforms.

VFF President Nguyen Thien Nhan (third from right) at the conference
VFF President Nguyen Thien Nhan (third from right) at the conference

The request was made on December 12 at a conference to announce results of the tax and customs supervision programme.

He praised the efforts of the tax and customs sectors in introducing pioneering reforms in State economic management but noted that bolder action is needed to fine-tune tax and customs procedures.

The report released at the conference showed that administrative tax and customs reforms have brought substantial benefits to the business community with the average corporate tax payment time having been cut significantly to 420 hours.

A large number of administrative procedures have also been streamlined to support business activities. Nine ministries are now connected to the national single window system, which has processed more than 20,500 applications since its establishment.

However, tax and customs reforms are still facing numerous difficulties.

Dau Anh Tuan from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry said many enterprises were not satisfied with the communication skills of customs and tax officials, many of whom were unable to give clear and concise directives.

He added that there were still not regular dialogues being held between the business community and relevant agencies to address their queries over tax and customs policies.

Director of the General Department of Taxation Bui Van Nam pledged to take more drastic measures in the future to address shortcomings and meet the expectations of the public and businesses in the community.